The sale revealed this week, of the Marine Hotel complex at Instow by the Christie Estate Trust,

owners of much property in Instow, Westleigh and Saunton, does not signal the start of a general policy of disposal.

This has been emphasised by Mr B D Coldwell, the Trust’s North Devon agent.

Purchasers of the hotel – at an undisclosed figure – are building contractors R Harris and Son Ltd. Their managing director, Mr Tom Bonetta, said that contracts had been exchanged and the purchase will be completed early in the New Year.

Included in the sale are the round-house building, until recently the home of the North Devon Yacht Club, and the car and boat park opposite the rear of the hotel. The Trust have retained ownership of the beach below the hotel end of Instow Quay.

Harris’s plan to demolish the hotel – a prominent feature of the village since the middle of the 18th century – and the former yacht club and erect homes on the site.

A planning application will be considered by Barnstaple Rural Council today.

The hotel as such will close at the end of the month although the bars will remain open until the New Year.

Gazette article dated 17 November 1972.